


Singularity

by Ahhuya



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Final Arc Spoilers, Gen, mentioning of other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 19:49:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13442091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahhuya/pseuds/Ahhuya
Summary: At certain times the earth stops moving. At those times, worlds meet. Then the earth moves again... until it doesn't.





	Singularity

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Magi Exchange  
> I'm sorry this became such a mess, but it was the first I came up with ^^;

At certain nights, the earth stops moving. No one will notice and no one will see. It only happens for a few seconds before the usual movement of time returns. Within those seconds there are several things going on. 

One: The world is no longer the same. The thin layer that separates realities seems to lift and things that aren't supposed to meet, meet. 

Two: Ideas are exchanged. In what seems to be a dream, a different person tells the future or throws a person into the pit of despair. Some call it “destiny's voice”, others just call it a bad dream. 

Three: Time slows down and keeps those on the border of worlds entrapped. 

Four: Certain entities pass over and won't return to their own side. 

No one should be able to watch the world stop. They're either asleep or too sleep-deprived to notice. Those who are awake enough will see the sudden stop as a blackout in their memories, wiped for a reason they can't understand. 

No one should see it happen, yet one does. It starts the first day Sinbad has to work overtime. The world stops and he blacks out, or so he should. Instead he watches black move across his vision, too alive to be an illusion. He pushes it away as exhaustion that night. The letters on the paperwork are dancing in front of his eyes as people. He goes to bed the moment he's home. 

The second time it happens, he blames it on the alcohol. It has been a long night partying with wine flowing like a river. The figures are back, but instead of being black as ink, they are as purple as the haze he's found himself in. Sharrkan brings great drinks, but whatever he and his friends are experimenting with, Sinbad makes a mental note to never touch again.  

The third time however, he has nothing to blame. He’s at home, watching a movie that he has seen ten times already. Besides him sits a woman he has never seen before. But he doesn’t notice her. Not until the movie pauses without a warning. The screen turns black and shows him images of people that are highly familiar to him, yet unknown. They’re on an island, tropical and happy. At least, they seem happy until he notices the smoke on the island. There is a cremation going on and before he realizes the smoke enters his room through the screen. 

“You said you would protect me.” It is only then that he notices the woman next to him. When their eyes meet, her mint hair turns to ash, her body becoming one with smoke filling the room. The smoke takes a different shape every time. There is the mint haired woman who wants her country back, the red haired knight who wants to see the world, a purple haired man and his friend who want to protect their friends, the pink lady who begs him for forgiveness… they don’t stop until the world starts turning again. It feels like a bad dream, except it’s too real to be a dream.

The fourth time, he meets his friends. At least he thinks they are. Though they move exactly the same, talk to him the same way they also do, something is wrong. They have become distant and praise him more than he’s used to. He recognizes Ja’far first, but his eyes are even emptier than Sinbad usually sees. 

“Why didn’t you listen to me?” It’s a simple question that Sinbad hears all too often. Yet something in Ja’far’s voice is different. He isn’t angry at a job not done. No, that tone is filled with sadness. “Why did you leave?”

The question for Sinbad isn’t  _ why  _ he left, it’s  _ when  _ he left.  _ When  _ did he leave Ja’far to make the man this sad. He knows he’s coming back into the office the following day, getting another stack of paperwork while he tries to drag Ja’far away from his upteempth coffee. He never gets an answer though. By the time he opens his mouth, it’s Hinahoho who stands in front of him, asking him why the world had to end like it had done long ago. Sinbad nas no answer. He has no answer for any of the questions that are thrown towards him. For once, Sinbad feels like he doesn’t know his friends. For once, the visions of his friends know him better than he knows himself. 

After that, it’s his rivals who come to him. First of is Kouen, who he knows more of than he wants. However, Kouen is the first to bring more than a distorted fantasy self. He brings an army, trampling the study room Sinbad has locked himself in. There are screams and something is set on fire. Kouen brings destruction, yet the feeling surrounding  him screams peace. Within the flames of Kou comes a boy with a laugh that makes Sinbad’s hair stand up. He hears himself being called an “idiot king” and though he is no king and he isn’t stupid, the words hurt. They’re meant to cut him deep, to make him feel like he’s worthless. The voice isn’t the only one who does a good job at it. There are hands all over him, dragging him into directions he doesn’t want to go. He is set on horses, holding picnics with people who betray him moments later. He makes deals with men who won’t listen to him, no matter how many people has behind him. He trades his life for a power he can’t keep. He loses everything. Then, as if nothing happened, the fire is gone, the books are restored and he’s alone again.

A part of him thinks he’s going mad. There is no way the visions are real. When he comes back to work, everyone acts like nothing happened. During parties, everyone still talks about the same old stuff. No one is more against him than usual, no one accuses him of things that he can’t remember doing.

The world keeps turning, until one day it doesn’t.

The vision doesn’t distort into different people, different places, different “memories”. He is walking back home after a long night of work. The street is softly illuminated with a light of home. The flickering of the lights doesn’t surprise him anymore, the vision of a man doesn’t scare him.

There is no way of telling if the man is a friend or foe. The sight of him screams danger, eyes staring right through him. The connection he feels is familiar. It’s not a friendship, but it’s almost like a partner in crime he wishes he had never lost. Sinbad isn’t sacred, but his feelings are conflicted. Conflicted until he sees the wide grin and he realizes the vision has been going on for too long already. He wants to run, be free of a monster that wants to take him over. He has ignored the warnings, made the same mistakes as always. Darkness engulfs him and for once, the world doesn’t move again. 

“I have found you, my singularity.”


End file.
